MALAWI: Free AIDS drugs programme brings hope

Malawi launched its first free anti-AIDS drug programme this week, in the hope of reaching tens of thousands of HIV-positive people over the next five years.

Only 6,000 people currently had access to the drugs, out of the 150,000 in need of antiretroviral treatment, said Health Minister Yusuf Mwawa.

The minister was optimistic that the free drugs programme would at last open the doors of hope for the many people in urgent need of treatment.

"Malawi, with its relatively tiny population, has almost as many HIV-infected people as the United States of America and Canada combined," Mwawa was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse.

Theme (s): Care/Treatment - PlusNews, Children,

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